B1Comparison

preterite vs imperfect

English has one simple past, Spanish has two. Choosing between them is not about how long ago something happened but about how you frame it.

preterite

completed events, the plot

Ayer comí paella.
Llegó a las ocho.
Vivimos allí dos años.
De repente sonó el teléfono.
Empezó a llover.

imperfect

background, habit, ongoing state

Cuando era niño, jugaba mucho.
Llovía y hacía frío.
Ella tenía veinte años.
Siempre íbamos en tren.
Yo leía cuando llamaste.

Quick answer

preterite (hablé, comí) = a finished event, the thing that happened.
imperfect (hablaba, comía) = background, habit, ongoing state, "used to" or "was -ing".

A story runs on both: the imperfect paints the scene, the preterite moves the plot.

Side by side

Leía un libro cuando sonó el teléfono.I was reading a book when the phone rang — imperfect for the ongoing action, preterite for the interruption.

Viví en Sevilla tres años.I lived in Seville for three years — a closed block of time, so preterite even though it is long.

De niño vivía en Sevilla.As a child I used to live in Seville — no boundary given, just background, so imperfect.

Memory trick

Ask: am I telling what happened next, or what things were like? "What happened next" is preterite. "What it was like" is imperfect.

Typical mistakes

Ayer estaba muy cansado y me acostaba temprano.

Ayer estaba muy cansado y me acosté temprano.

Being tired is the background state (imperfect), but going to bed is the event that happened (preterite). Learners often put both in the same tense.

Cuando era joven, fui a la playa cada verano.

Cuando era joven, iba a la playa cada verano.

"Cada verano" marks a repeated habit with no endpoint, which is exactly what the imperfect is for.

Check yourself

Fill in: "Mientras ella ___ la cena, llegaron los invitados."

preterite vs imperfect

preterite

imperfect

Side by side

Memory trick

Typical mistakes

Other comparisons

Grammar

Practise

Practise this away from the screen